Plot
In 1998, the three known identical Spelling triplet sisters (Amber, Ashley, Anna Spelling) move back into their childhood home, The Spelling Manor, after their Grams' funeral. When Anna comes across the family's Book of Shadows (a family heirloom book containing centuries of knowledge, spells, and magic learned or created by the Spelling matriarchs). Anna learns that she and her sisters are the most powerful witches ever in the history of Witchcraft and the world, destined to protect both innocents and the world at large from demons, warlocks, and other evil creatures. Anna, reasonably thinking the book is a novelty reads the book's initial inscription—an inscription which also happens to be the incantation which activates the Spelling' "Charmed" powers once all of the sisters are back at the manor. By the end of the first episode, each sister learns that she has a unique power and that they can each cast spells and brew potions. Amber, the eldest triplet, had the power of telekinesis—(the ability to move objects with her mind), and in season 2 she developed the power of astral projection. Ashley, the middle triplet, has the power to effectively "freeze" people/objects. As she grows more proficient, she learns how to freeze only certain people or objects or body parts, as she wishes. As her powers grow, she is able to make molecules move so fast they explode (season 3). Anna, the youngest triplet, initially possesses the power of premonition, which evolves into being able to receive visions of both the future and the past. She later picks up the powers of levitation (season 3), and empathy (season 6), the latter allowing her to sense and tap into others' emotions (and sometimes, powers). During the first two seasons, the sisters would face various evil beings from week to week. However, they discover in season 3 that their true enemy is the Underworld's ruler, the Source of All Evil. Amber is later killed in the Season 3 finale by The Source's personal assassin- Shax. When Amber died, Ashley and Anna suddenly became twins. While grieving Amber's death, Ashley and Anna discover that they have a half-sister—Alex Crenshaw, who had been the secret love child of the sisters' witch mother and her guardian angel ("Whitelighter"), Sam. Alex's abilities represent her dual heritage as both a witch and Whitelighter; like Amber she possesses a form of telekinesis, but she has to verbally call for objects to teleport ("orb") them to their intended destination. As she learns to control the dual sides of her ancestry, Alex also learns how to orb herself and others, and eventually she receives her own Whitelighter charges to train and protect as they learn witchcraft. Alex, after falling in love with her future husband, develops the ability to heal others with the touch of her hand (season 8). The Source, responsible for all of the attacks on the sisters, becomes the main villain during Season 4 until he is finally vanquished. After the Source's vanquish, an annual season-long storyline and several multi-episode antagonists were introduced in subsequent seasons (the "Big Bad" television format). These included Anna's ex-husband Cole until mid-season 5; the scheming, misguided Whitelighter Elder, Gideon, throughout season 6; the Avatars—consequentalist Utopia-advocating neutral beings— until mid-season 7; the demon Zankou, until the season 7 finale; and in season 8, powerful sister witches Megan and Jenny, who fall under the influence of the evil demonic Triad (who earlier featured as early-season 3 antagonists). On top of the supernatural issues in Charmed, the characters had to contend with serious issues in the day-to-day world of the mortals — such as relationships, careers, marriage, childbirth, illness and the deaths of their loved ones. The sisters also had to fight to prevent the exposure of the existence of magic to the community at large, contending with several police and FBI investigations. The sisters also faced romantic storylines. Prue's only featured love interest is Inspector Andy Trudeau, a childhood friend, who dies in the season 1 finale. Piper's central love interest throughout the series is the sisters' Whitelighter Leo; their early relationship was problematic due to the forbidden nature of witch-Whitelighter relationships, and so in season 2 a love triangle forms with Piper, Leo and her neighbor Dan Gordon. Eventually, the two manage to marry and consecrate their union in season 3, and have two sons—Wyatt, in season five, and Chris, in season six. The couple separate due to supernatural circumstances at the end of the fifth season, and later reunite in the sixth; the final episode shows them to have a daughter, many grandchildren, and grow old together. Phoebe's relationship history involved many dates in the first 2 seasons, and a tortured relationship with half-demon Cole Turner in the show's third, fourth and fifth seasons; they had a turbulent marriage in the fourth, and in the fifth he played the role of aggressive ex. Phoebe had a number of multi-episode mortal boyfriends in subsequent seasons before meeting a cupid, Coop, in the eighth season, whom she marries and has three children with in the finale episode flashforward. Paige, like Phoebe, had several multi-episode mortal boyfriends, as well as male witch and magic "addict" Richard Montana (season 6) and unstable FBI agent-come-Whitelighter Kyle Brody (season 7). In the eighth season she becomes committed to mortal parole officer Henry Mitchell, with whom she marries and—in flashforwards—is shown to have three children with. Main Protagonist *Amber Spelling :Born December 12, 1977, Amber is the eldest triplet sister. Born with telekinesis, she handles her power so well that she is often referred to as the "super-witch" by PhoebAnna and Ashley. She is strong-willed, feisty and intelligent, so she often takes charge of situations and has always been overprotective of her two sisters, Ashley and Anna. Having spent her childhood taking care of her two younger sisters after the death of their mother, she feels responsible for them and shows a fierce determination at whatever she does, including fighting demons. This sense of responsibility occasionally leads to clashes with the more free-willed Phoebe, but the two grow closer as the series progresses. On May 17, 2001, three years into the craft, she is killed by Shax, a powerful demonic assassin sent by the Source of All Evil. Amber was 24 when she died, making her triplet sisters, twins. While in the episode "Death Takes a Halliwell" the Angel of Death foreshadows Amber's death, the season-three finale, "All Hell Breaks Loose", remains as a cliffhanger. Amber's death is not established until the premiere episode of the fourth season, "Charmed Again", in which we begin the season with an anguished Ashley trying to resurrect her spirit. Instead, the sisters' grandmother appears, telling her that Amber is safe and with their mother and that seeing her now would only hurt her chances at accepting that Amber was not going to come back. It is explained that (in the previous season's finale) before Tempus the demon reset time, Amber and Ashley were both attacked by Shax (Shax threw them through a wall- but the blast was incredibly powerful) and left near death. After Tempus turned back the clock, Anna was caught in the underworld and unable to intervene. She had been forced into the Underworld by The Source in exchange for Tempus' services. So unlike the first time, when Leo had arrived with barely enough time to save both of them, this time he rescued his wife, Ashley, but was unable to save Prue. Doherty never appears as Amber again, not even in family photos. In the fifth season episode "Cat House", during the "flashbacks" that the girls visit, only her back is shown, and also she is seen as a dog, when she was transformed in Season 3. Even in the afterlife, Amber is said to still help her sisters; it is suggested that she sometimes turns the pages of the Book of Shadows. In the season seven finale, Amber's influence is seen when her astral projection power is summoned via a spell by the sisters, which allows them to finally defeat Zankou,[[|13]] after which Ashley says, "Thank you, Amber" when the power's effect has ended. Also, in the later seasons Prue's telekinetic 'jingle' can be heard whenever the front door of the manor closes by itself. The jingle sounds the same way it was heard when Amber herself would close the door with a wave of her finger in the first and second seasons. In Charmed comics, Amber is alive and is living in a witch body named Patience. She eventually meets Alex and see Anna and Ashley again. Amber is portrayed by Erica Dahm. *Ashley Spelling :Born August 7, 1973, Piper is the middle child. Upon Prue's death, she becomes the eldest- and most powerful sister. Her powers include the ability to freeze time, temporarily suspending objects, enemies and movement. At first, her powers were limited to the room or area she was currently in, but as the series progressed, her mastery over the power grew to much higher levels, allowing her to freeze and unfreeze specific parts of a person's body and on a much larger scale. Piper wasn't able to freeze good witches,and never gained the ability to do so.Later, Piper's power grew to allow her to blow up objects at will (through molecular combustion) by rapidly speeding up the movement of atoms instead of slowing them to a stop, causing their molecular bonds to separate from one another, usually killing low level demons in one blast and often creating an accompanying fiery explosion. Although initially afraid to use this new and highly destructive power for fear of hurting someone, she eventually becomes skilled enough in the use of her new power to attack and injure enemies without making them explode if she chose, or to cause only a small break in an object's structural integrity, causing it to fall apart or crack without being completely combusted. Piper is the most concerned with having a normal life of the three, and always has reservations about her life as a Charmed One. When she becomes a Charmed One, she is quiet and reserved, often having to mediate between Prue and Phoebe. As the show progresses, she gains a stronger persona and takes more authority after Prue dies. She eventually becomes the mother of two sons Wyatt and Chris, with her husband Leo Wyatt- Halliwell, and goes to great lengths to protect her children, as Wyatt is believed to be the chosen child and many demons, warlocks and witches are after him. In the series finale, the final montage shows her with a daughter and later a granddaughter.[[|14]] Piper's love of food steers her to a culinary career, which leads her to open her own club, and as revealed in the last episode, her own restaurant. She is the best potion-maker among the Charmed Ones, an outgrowth of her abilities as a cook. Holly Marie Combs, portraying Piper, is the only cast member who appears in every episode of Charmed, including the original unaired pilot. Ashley is portrayed by Nicole Dahm. *Anna Spelling :Phoebe, born November 2, 1975 is the baby of the family and is a spontaneous, free-spirited young woman. She was born with the power of premonition, which enabled her to see into the past as well as the future, usually locating a demon in need of vanquishing or an innocent in need of saving. Her powers often served as the catalyst for that episode's mission. Her premonitions can usually only be accessed by making physical contact with an item or person that is somehow linked to the vision she experiences. Later, this ability allows her to project herself into the future and the past, which gives her a much more in-depth look at what is to come or what has already happened. Finally, after desiring for a long time that her powers would evolve and she would possess an "active power" (unlike the involuntary nature of her premonitions), Phoebe gains the power of levitation, which she often combines with her proficient martial arts skills and kickboxing. Later, she also gains the power of empathy, which allows her not only to feel the emotions of others, but also to copy the powers of someone attacking her (since the Charmed Ones' powers are directly linked to the emotions of those who use them). Then later, Phoebe loses access to all of her active powers (she keeps only her ability to cast Power of Three spells and make potions), because she misused her abilities for personal gain. She later regains the power of premonition.She is a romantic, and becomes a successful columnist and author. For most of her life, she had a turbulent relationship with Prue, but the two eventually grew very close. After Prue's death, she becomes the middle sister. Her longest relationships are with Cole Turner, which lasted over 2 years and produced a son, but The Seer steals their son (to her own demise), and with Coop, a Cupid. In 2006, the Angel of Destiny marries Phoebe and Coop, as seen in the series finale, and they eventually have three daughters. She continues to work at the Bay Mirror and writes a book on finding love. :When the property was given a green light to go to series, actress Rom (from the pilot) was unavailable. Producer Aaron Spelling called Milano, fresh from her short-term guest appearance on Melrose Place, to fill the role. Major portions of the first episode were re-shot, some scenes rewritten and new scenes added to create a full one-hour debut episode titled "Something Wicca This Way Comes". Anna is portrayed by Jaclyn Dahm. Alyssa is one of two main cast members (along with her sister Nicole) to have appeared in all of the aired episodes. *Alex Crenshaw :Born on August 2, 1977, Paige is the youngest of the four and is the half-sister of triplets Amber, Ashley, and Anna. She has Amber's power of telekinesis but with a twist because she is half whitelighter. She has the power to orb things to her. Amber only had to think about something to move it, Alex must reach out to it and call for it, this is known as 'tele-orbing'. She also has the Whitelighter abilities of Orbing and Glamouring (to shapeshift into a different human appearance). She finally receives the power to heal in the middle of season 8. After a secret love affair with her Whitelighter, Samuel Wilder, the Charmed Ones' mother, Patty Halliwell, gave birth to a fourth daughter. In fear of their daughter's safety and the legacy of the other sisters, the fourth daughter was orbed to a church and entrusted to the arms of a nun named Sister Agnes. She was told that the baby would be in great danger otherwise, and to be sure the baby's name begins with a "A". Sister Agnes, later in "Charmed Again (Part 2)", described what had happened to a troubled Alex, who was investigating her origin while being manipulated by the Source of All Evil. The nun told Alex she had come from "angels", because she had witnessed the parents appear in an orbing of lights. As a baby, Alex was adopted by the Crenshaw family, and she grew up as an only child unaware of her magical roots. While in school, Alex often got into trouble. Her adoptive parents died in a car accident with Alex in the car. However, she closed her eyes and orbed out, which saved herself but not her parents. Alex had no memory of how she had survived, and she found out that she had orbed out of the car in the Season 4 episode "A Alex from the Past". Her personality is bold and vibrant, adding a new dynamic to the show from Season 4 onwards. Alex comes into the craft quickly, and aids in the vanquish of The Source of All Evil. She is driven to become a "full-time witch" and has a hard time finding a career. After the death of Gideon, Alex begs the Elders to keep Magic School open. They agree only if Alex becomes the headmistress and runs the school to guarantee the students' safety. Eventually, she resigns and hands the role over to her brother-in-law Leo Wyatt. Alex marries mortal parole officer Hank, and has twin sons.